Don't Trust the Wonderlander
by crumbsinthepickles
Summary: This is a re-write of a story I did years ago. Alice and Hatter have been together for about a year, but now Alice is forced on another adventure in wonderland, and now she's even more confused about who she can trust.
1. Chapter 1

"I've missed you."

Alice stood in the door of their apartment and looked at Hatter standing in the hall with some other woman's hands in his. They both smiled as if they were amazed to be with each other again. Just as they were about to move into a tight hug, or something worse, the crashing sounds of brown paper bags filled with miscellaneous groceries hitting the floor startled them enough to look in Alice's direction.

"How could you!?" Before Hatter could answer her question she was gone though. Alice felt her heart breaking in her chest. For once she thought she had finally found someone who she could love and trust to never leave her. But of course she was wrong, Hatter and that- that tramp would be an image that would forever be ingrained in her mind's eye.

She didn't even really know where she was going until she had arrived. The looking glass was no longer covered up but on full display in a library four blocks from her mother's apartment. When she reached out and slid her fingers across in the glass remained solid, however with enough force she knew it would give way and be a strange substance somewhere between air and liquid.

The reflection in the mirror showed the same lost and lonely girl she was a year ago when she first fell through the looking glass. No father. No stable relationship. No hope to find either. Wiping the tears from her eyes she tried to move her mouth into a smile, but on the reflection it seemed forced and fake.

"Can I help you ma'am?" The old librarian came out from behind a bookshelf to the left of Alice.

"Oh, no thank you."

"Are you sure, sometimes a good book can help with a bad day. It gets your mind off of things," a smile cracked across the woman's face and she picked up a small book from the pile she was returning to their places on the shelves. "Like this, it always helps my mind wander when there is too much stuff in it." She placed the book into Alice's hand, gave her one last smile, and then returned to her stack of books.

_Alice's Adventure in Wonderland._ It was a paperback that was mostly blue but the cover had a picture of that classic blonde haired child in a tree. Thinking about wonderland was never something she liked to do, unless it was about Hatter. But right now, even the bright spots he was able to put in her memories of that crazy world were dark holes that produced only tears. She placed the book against the wall beneath the looking glass then turned to leave. At least she knew she could always go back to her mom.

Looking at the time Alice knew that Carol would still be at work. As she climbed the stairs to the apartment she figured that some alone times would be nice anyway. When she saw the note on the door she was just made even more upset.

_Alice, please come back. I don't know where you went but I can explain everything. Please. –Love Hatter_

She snatched the paper off the door and crumpled it into a neat ball, he could be all he wanted but she wasn't going to be stupid enough to fall for his tricks again. Even though she was angry by the time she sat on the couch she just crumpled into a ball of tears.

Of course Carol won't mind. She might say "I told you so" once or twice, but she will be more than happy to help Alice move back out of the apartment Hatter and she had been renting. Knowing her mom was going to be there for her just wasn't enough though it seemed. What she really wanted was Hatter. To be curled in his arms and crying against his chest, even though he is the one who put her in this position.

Against her better judgment she decided she would return and give him a chance to explain. If nothing else she could at least grab a few of her things while she was there.

The door was slightly open, which was very unusual for Hatter. The door was always locked, even when they were home. And usually with the chain up too. Living the way he did for so many years Hatter was always extra cautious. Nudging the door open it was hard for Alice to believe it was the same apartment she had walked into just a few hours earlier.

A few of the groceries had made their way to the counter, some apples, tea bags and a few bags of chips. At her feet however were splattered eggs, a gallon of milk slowly leaking onto the floor and a crushed loaf of bread. On the other side of the hall she could see into the living room, all the furniture was flipped over and there was dirt and, was that blood on the wall?

Alice's heart skipped three beats. For a second she forgot all about how Hatter was a cheating scum bag her only thought was how upset she will be at herself if anything bad happens to him. Racing into the living room to have a closer look, and secretly hoping it was just ketchup that exploded when she dropped the food earlier, she noticed something on the wall next to the mirror above the fireplace.

_Stay here you stupid oyster. Move on and accept that Hatter is getting what he always deserved. – MM_

There was only one person who could have written the note. Alice couldn't understand how I was possible, but it was happening she had to help Hatter. Cheater or not she owed him a rescue. Within minutes she was back in the library, then without much thought, she was falling into Wonderland.


	2. Chapter 2

At least this time she landed on her feet. Unfortunately the hallway was still filled with water and vines and half her calf was now wrapped in soaking wet denim. She waded through the water as her eyes adjusted to the dim light in the hall way. After a few turns she managed to make it out of the building, but she knew it would be worse once she made it outside.

In the light she could easily see the steep drop that was only two feet away from her. Clenching her eyes shut she took a few deep breaths before opening them back up and committing to finding her way around the city. Her back placed snuggly against the wall she sidled around buildings until she reached an area that look familiar. A narrow pathway that lead to the Tea Shoppe.

After taking a few minutes to regain her confidence she quickly sprinted across the path and up the steps. Alice wasn't even sure of what it would be like inside. There were lights on, but without Hatter around it might not even be a tea shop anymore. She tried to reason to herself, Jack was back in power so how bad could it be. But there was the little fact the Mad March was on the loose again. Deciding it was best to just go for it she opened the door and stepped inside.

It was the Tea Shoppe, but it was nothing like it had been like when Hatter was running it. The room no longer resembled the stock exchange and instead seemed like an actual place where people when and drank tea and hung out with friends. The wall that was once covered with liquefied emotion now had jars of herbs and spices, there was also a long bar in place of the podium that the little man had been dozing off at last time. There were only two things out of place in the shop, no one was working behind the bar and none of the furniture matched.

Alice walked past the groups of people scattered about sipping from there mugs, none of which looked to match either, and straight to a door that lead to the back office that once belonged to Hatter. She didn't know why, but her gut told that is where she needed to start if she was going to find Hatter.

To her surprise the office was practically identical to how Hatter used to keep it, except for the wardrobe. It had once been made of glass but now was reflective. Not a perfect mirror but almost a blend of fun house mirrors. And it wasn't Hatter sitting at the desk. Instead there was a young woman, maybe late teens early twenties, Alice couldn't be sure.

"Hello?" She didn't even look up from her writing to address Alice. Her dark hair was pulling into a sloppy mass at the back of her head with random strands sneaking loose here and there. She had a black leather jacket over a purple, paisley, button up shirt.

"Who are you?" Alice stammered over her words as she took a few more tentative steps towards the desk. The girl suddenly looked up at Alice with a stare that conveyed no emotion.

"Not your friend." Now with this girl looking at her Alice suddenly recognized her. It was the same woman who was with Hatter earlier that day. Her stomach dropped. Immediately her mind was full of questions. Why was she here? Why wasn't she worried about Hatter? Did she even know what happened? And why was _she _being so rude, if either of them had the right to be snippy it was Alice.

The girl's green eyes locked with Alice's. Just like the furniture in the main room none of her facial features seemed to match. Her eyes smiled in amusement, her mouth was set in a scowl. Her eyebrows reminded Alice of the look Carol used to give her whenever she crossed another location of the list of places her father could be.

"That doesn't answer my question."

"It wasn't meant to." There was an awkward silence and the two women stood across the room staring at each other until suddenly the girl sprung up from the white swivel chair and rushed over to Alice.

"Into the hidey hole with you!" Before Alice had a chance to process what was happening the girl grabbed her by the shoulders and ushered her towards the fun-house mirror wardrobe. Opening one of the doors she shoved Alice in among the coats. The strange girls face cracked into a giant smile as she placed her pointer finger on her lips and winked at Alice before shutting the door.

Inside the wardrobe Alice discovered that it was still clear from the inside. The girl laughed to herself a little as she skipped back towards the desk and settled back into her chair, again her face rearranged itself to have the same focused expression as she had when Alice entered the room. Only now did Alice realize just how much smaller this strange girl was than the previous Tea Shoppe owner. If they stood side by side there would have been at least a foot difference between them.

They sat like this for a while. At the desk the girl started mumbling under her breath, it almost sounded like Lewis Carol's "The Jabberwocky" but Alice couldn't be sure. She was just about the step out of the wardrobe when the murmuring stopped and the door opened. The man that entered was tall and thin. He wore a black suit that contrasted with his white-blonde hair. Alice couldn't shake the fact that she knew him from somewhere, but his face was completely unfamiliar.

"I thought I'd stop by to congratulate you." His voice had a slightly higher pitch than Alice expected, however it still managed to sound slightly intimidating.

"Oh? On what?" Looking up at the man, the girl's green eyes seemed to stand out against all the white in the room.

"Don't act all humble now, sweetheart. If it wasn't for you we wouldn't have caught Hatter." She glanced back down at the paperwork on her desk for what seemed a second too long. Crossing the room with lightning speed, the man slammed his hands down on the desk. "Is that guilt I sense?"

"No." She gulped before looking up with a crazed grin on her face. "Not ever." The small woman then leaped out of her chair and walked around it until she stood next to the tall suited man. "Now, why don't we go get some tea and celebrate the down fall of Hatter?" As she snaked her slender arm into his and started the guide him to the door he froze and looked around the room.

"You're not hiding anything in here are you?"

"What would I possibly hide from you March?" She giggled then stood on her tiptoes to give him a kiss, he made one final glance around the room before bending down to lightly touch his lips with hers.


End file.
